Information programme: objectives and means. COM (81) 116 final, 4 May 1981

COMMISSION

OF

THE

EUROPEAN

COMMUNITIES

COM(81) 116 final

Brussels, 4th May 1981

INFORMATION PROGRAMME: OBJECTIVES AND MEANS

(Communication from the Commission to the Council)

INFORIIATION PROGRAHIVIE: OBJ ECTIVES AND i'lEAJ!!

[-**,

44b

general informati.on PoiicS'

of staff

and budgetary

4,

,^

t

{

t

l.

Each year

guidelines

and take

resources.

rhe Commission

decisions

on

has

to

define

the

utilization

2.

In

formulating

its

information

policy it

must

take

account,

oi

:

a)

the

polirical

eontext

priorities

(by

country,

audience, and theme) re sourc-e s

General po'l :L ticalr*

conte{!

3.

Everyone recognizes

that

the

Community

is

going through

a

very

dif

ficulr period.

The problem

facing

lfember

States are

ser:'-ous anC. ar+ provoking

tonfl-icfs

which

are

someEimes

hard

to resolve"

The

contrrbu-tion that

the

Connnunity can make

is

frequently

viewed.

with

suspicion"

In

some cases

the

C,ommunity

is

even regarded

as the

canse

of

rhese::l.i:c..

blems.

This

has had

a negative

effect

on

public

opinionn

particularl;'irr

the

Member

Sta.tes,

A

recent survey

(Eurobaromerer, Decelol,er l98O) rev':- led

that

the

percentage

of

Nhose r*ho

consider

the

Corununi,ly'a good

rhirr;.'

i-s

on

the

decline

in

every l{ernber

State.

In

three

Member counEries

-'Ijln'r:lrk"

Greece and

the

lJniced Kingdom

_-

support

for

the

Community

is

particul-"r:1-'.r low.

4.

Public

attiEudes

towards Ehe Comnunity r,.ril-l

not

change

signif

i*

cantly

unless

the

Community can overcome

its

eurrent

problems.

Withou;:

credible

policies,

there

cannot be

a

good

information

policy.

5.

.For

_the

_Conrnission, which

is

often

presenEed

as

the

scepegcat'

lhe

current

situation

means

that i-t

must pursue an

active

inforrnatior"r

policy to

<iefend

not only the

Community

but also

its

ovrn

role.

ft"

should

therefore

use

its

information

services

:

-a) to

eonvince

the

public

of

the.need

to

concinue

to

dcire}op

the

Corununity ;

b) to

stress the

irnportance

of

whaE has been achieved ;

c) to

show,

for specific

areas,

that

an attempt must

be

made

fo

find

conurnon

solutions

to

current

problems ;

d) to

present

its

own

vision of

the

Communityrs

fulurr'.

6,

If it is to

achieve these

objec.tives

the

Commission wi-1i need lo

mobilize

all

th.ose who can

contribute'lo

a

befter

understandirig ,'-:'f ]he

Community. Among

these,

it

wishes

in

partic.ular

Eo r.rork

ctoseiy

r;,.th

rhe European Parli-anrent whose members

are

in direct

contact

wi{:h nrolers

in

the

Member Stetes and

irit.h regional

ariC

local realiries in lh,

Ci.n.munii:y"

It

pl-ans

to

involve

che ParLianen!:

as r:tosely

as p+ssil: j-e (, i;, _'..'ugli

ih*.

epproprrate cornini-tLee)

in its

revi,ew

of

inforrm.ci.on por,i-c.i :lir{i imple-.

mentar-ieln

;i" irs

i.nf.ormatioil programne,

thsr€b:'

respond:"1:g

tt)

fne

i,/ish

,;,sprns$r:'-'! l;5,'

_Farliautenl

_{if.se1f during}

its

_recent

debaf'* '..". i"nforl:rarion

p,.'rti.'u .

o)

c)

,J

2-Priori

cigs

7.

There

are four essential requirerents

:

-

coverage

of

current

developments ;

*

developing

certain

priority

themes ;

-

seLecting

priority

countries

(anong

non-rnemb'er

eountries)

;

-

selecting

priority

audiences'

particularly

within

ni

ty.

Current developmenEs

B.

DG X should provide back up

for

the

spokesman's Group

daily

coverage

of

nerrs ehrough

its

central

units

and

information offices.

9. So EhaL

its

services

can work

effectivel'y,

the

Conunission should

decide on

the information

aerivities

uhich should

accoFpany every

irnportant

decision. It is

suggested

thac

an

information

sheet be produced

in

such

cases

by

Che

services

concerned

in

cooperation

with

DG X

and

the

relevant

cabinets

This would

set out the

innnediate

press

coverage

to

be

given

by the

Spokesmants Group and

the

supporting

action

to

be

taken by

OC

X

(i""luding

the

target

audienees

to

be

reached and

the

instruments to

be dsed

- for

instance,

publieations,

visits,

seminars,

etc.i.'The

restrlts

of

each operation would be assessed

in

ciue ceiurse and

a report

made

to

the

Conrni ss ion .

It is

essential

that

cooperation.

with

ottrer

Coumission ser''rices

IF

rember,

applicant

and

Ehe

Conmu-lo.

be improved as urged

by

Par:triament

in

the

Schall

ReporE

vhich

made::efer-urr"*

lo

Parliamentt*

"ot"urn

that all

Coinmissictn departments be made aware

of

the 'information dirnensiont. This invclves,

among

other

t-hings'

more

frequent meetings

ruith

ehe

netvork

of

i.nformation corl:espondents

of

the

other

Direetorates*genera1.'

I

l,

It is

also essential

to

guarantee

elose coordirration

with

DG X's

Infbrmati-on

Offices

by

notifyirig

them

in

good

timei

supplying

the

necessa* r:y documentati.on

quickly

_;

and

taking national

and regj-onal aspecrs

into

account

in

Lhe pres:entstirn

of

Conrmission pr:oposals' The Commj-ssir:n's

regionalizeti infr:rmation

effort - with particular

reference

fo

the

liuropean

funcis

-

must be pursued and expanded

so

_that

the

people

of

Europe can be

given a be-tter

idea

of

the

imporrance

of

the

Conmunicy

in their

dai.L;r

lives.

Themes

I

12.

Ttre Cornrnissi.on has ident:rLfieqi eleven

priority

areas

irr its

l98l

prograrune. One

of

DG Xos

basic

tasks

r^'ii.l be

tc

supply as much

inf,rrma-tion

as

possible

on these using

all

the

irormal rreans

at ics

disposal.

Horvever,

i.t

would be

unreali.stic

t'c

exle{:L

that.equal

atCentio'n can be

*

paid

to all of

them.

For

chis

reason

it is

suggested

that

whenever Ehe

Commission takes

a decision

or

makes an

important

proposal an information

sheet be produced and

specific

information

activities

be

approved.

fhese

accivities

can be financed from DG

Xls

budgetary reserve.

l3.Inparallelwiththeses.ectoralactivities,theCoIImdssion

- in

ordet

to

provide

a

framework

for

a

coherent

set

of

information

act-ivities - will

also

take

account

of certain thorizontalr

Ehemes such as

Ehose

indicated

in

the

detailed

progranme

of

the

services

of

the

Corrrni* ssion which

it

adopted

at its

meeting

of April Bth'

_{l98l '}

CounEries

14.

Although

it is true that

the

commission cannot hope

to

have a

determining influence- on

public opinion

through

its

information

activities

it is

nonetheless

essentiaf

to

seLect

prioriCy

countries

where an extra

effort is

required

for political

reasons'

15.

l'{ember

Stafes.

Given

the findings

of

the lacest

Eurobarometer

""o.i'""nffiabyInformationotiiceHeadsatarecentme*"ting'"

it is

suggested

that

priority

be given

to

those

countries

where

ir

is

necessary

to

develop

information

work.

16.

Aoolj"cant and non-member

countries. It is

suggested

that

bi;Cget-ury

,""o,r|""" Tor

,be,

increasedl

that

a

mejlil:

priority

be

kept

for

tf,e

United

Slates

;

and

that

some adjustments be made

in

the

allocation

of

resources

for

Information

Offices

in

other

non-ii'aml:er

counEries.

Audiences

t

?

17.

In

appliggnC and non-mgnber

c,gntries

(witrr the

excepr-iorr. of

the

Unitea

Stat

at

the

Cornmission can only

reach

opinion leaders

(for

exa'nple,

press,

politicians

a'nd so on)

_'

In

member

tountries,

on the

oLher hand,

a

distinctign

has

to

be

made between

@ic

and

multipliers.

General

public

lB.

As

far

as

the

general

public

is

concerned

it is

impossible,

with-out

funds on

a

scal.

"onp"t.ble

to

Chose made

available

for;he

direet

elections

campaign,

to rlach

the

general

public

directly

(a

rnonth-long

pubticity

ca*pailn'wou1d absorb

the

entire

innual

budget

of

a large

Infor-nration

Oifice).

Consequently, a mass audience can

only-be

r:e ached tl'rough

Ehe

media. This

is

one

of

DG

X's

priority

tasks,

though

this

cosrs

time

and

effort

rather

than budgetary

credits.

By

contrast

gensiriarable funds

are

necessary

for

the techhical

staff

and operar-ions

of

the

st'iidios

and

productioo

"Lrrtr"

of

the

Radio,

Teler:ision

and Films Divinj-on

in

Brussels'

inis

itern represents

the

urajor share

of

expenditure

iir

rhi-s i'ir*a which

will

absorb 17.6 7"

of

the

funds

available

fc,;: infornratio:")-

iri

luleurber States

4-19.

l{oweverl

during the

year

consideration

rriLl

have

to

be given to

the

futrire rote

of this

Divi.sion;

with particufar

reference

to

the

pro-duction

of

audio-visual

material-

for

regional

and

local stations'

The question

of

transferring

its

studios

to

the

BerLaymont

will

also

have

to

be examined.

20,

TraveLling

extribitions

are

angther way of, reaching a wide

audience.

A numbei

of offices,

notabLy Bonn, have'been

using

them

regu-larly.

Lasf year

thr€e

others

-

Brussels,

London and

Paris

-

nounted

ttu.rltli.,g

_{"*i.,iUitions}

too.

These obtained wide media coverage' guaranreed

a physicai

pr.r.rr"e in

the

regions,

and served

to

highl-ight the

regional

impact

of

Ctinnrunify

act.ivitiei. It is

suggested

that this

type

of

action

be pursued and expanded

in

1981.

21.

Another way

of

reaching a wide audience

is to

undertake

special-projeefs.

These should

include

Preparations

for

the celebration

of

the

lSri.r

"nr,iversary

of

the

signature

of

the Treaties

of

Rome,

the

organisa-tion of

events around

"pu"ifi"

themes, and consideratiOn

of

how

best

to

exploit private

initiatives,

such

as

Sail for

EuroPe

Multipliers

ZZ.

At

the

same time-

rhe

Connnission's informa.tion

effort

must meet

che needs

of

opinion

leaders

wlo are

important

rnultipliers of

inforrnacion.

23"

The Connnissic,nts present

strategy,

as

far

as

this

group

is

concerned, corrprises Nwo mairr elements.

24" The

first is

based on

the

need

to

raaintain

regular

and

direct

links

r,rirti as many

opinion

1ea<1ers as

possible.

A de-cailed

siridy

earrj-ed

out

last

y€ar

suggested

that to

rneet

this

need a. number

of

rejuvenated

periodicals

shou-l-d be pu-bli-shed

by

ttre Inforrnaiion

Offices

to

include

an

B*page Eurcrofum supplernent prepared

in Brussels" l,t

tbe

sarne

time

i.t:

was agreed

thaf

a

much

larger

ar.rciience

has

tc

bs

reached'

A

target

l:eader--strip

of

-5OCI,O0O \^ras

6et

fc'r

the

end

of

tr982

as

compared

with

2OO'OO0 pre*

viously.

Nerv rearler:s

are already

receiving

the

magAzines

fbr a

{:r:ial-perio<i., This

new

policy

has

eliminaterl

earlie:: duptication

between pub*

lications

iss'.red from Brussels and thosa issued

hy Informatiqn

Offices"

In l98i

these periodical.s

wiLl

a.ccor^rn*

f.*r

29 Z

of

the

fr-rnds a.il*cat-ed

to

Member

States"

The cc'st

of

c.l-her

wriLten

nace::ial

(brochures,

etc.)

ineans

that

th.e publicaLi.oqs programne as

a

wirnl-e

r+i1l

acco"{nt

for

4O.9 7" crf the

butlget f c;r nrem'net tor-rntri-es.

25.

The seconri eLer*ent

af

rhe

Conirnj-ssicnrs approa(3h

lo

op:."ni.on J-eaders

is to identify

prior"itv

groups *lnci st:pp-1,r'infcrrnation

to

them i.rr. Lhe form

of

speciaLized publi.cariorls

_{! visif,s,}

rir€:etings ap"d ,liscuss

j-r:ns"

Thi-s;

is

done

in

close

e.ssocis"tir:n

wirh

their

representaf

ive

organi"zatric)ils, t.o whom

contribuLion"s

are

sanletimes marde

for

speci-f,ie inforrnati.on acti"'iri.ers "

26.

rr is

sugges

ted

that

priori tlr

be, giverr

in

I 981

,

t-o i:hose mr-rlci*

pliers

wiro

are

ecrncerned

i*i"th

the specifjc

probl-ems

affecting

r^norl*ers,

wonen and yoirng people.

s

I

,'11

27,

The main items

of

expenditure under

this

headi.ng

are

visits

and

seminars.

Thcse

will

be

allocated

14.3 7. and

22,2 fr re.spectively

in

l98l

making

a totel of

36.5

8. Ib

chorrld bE

notcd

*h6,e-informeeion eo yCIung

people

is

currently

financed separatel"y from generaL

information

work, The

last

Conmrission

divided

appropriacions

available

for this

purpose

(Article

273) between DG X and DG

XII

(now DG V).

Ways and means

28.

Staff.

Iocal staff) ,

I and Suboffices and non'r:ember

At

present the

DG has

a

total staff ot

452

(officials

and

43

of

whom work

in

Brussels,

197

in

IO

Information

Offices

in

the

}{ember StaEes, and

ll2 in ll

Offices

in

applicant

countries.

t

29"

In recent years the

headquarters

staff

comptement has bc,en

reduced

by

successive Conunission deeisions

while

the

network

of

Infornation

Offices

has

steadily

increased. It is

essential

that

a

bal-ance be rnajn*

tained

between headquarters and

l.ocal

offices

since

local offices

need eo

be

fe,J inf ormation and

instructicJns

a.ppropriate

to

1ocal

realities

"

3O.

Furthermore,

tire

planneci

rlecentralization, involving the

opening

of

suboffices

in

Germany and

Italy did

not materialize

in

198O-Bl, wirh

the

exception

of l{ilan

(early

May

l981)

qzhich _{i"ri11 be} macie

pr:ssible

by

the

redeploymenL

of existing

staff

.

As

far

as

non*member

count::ies

.:r€i

concerned,

the

delegations

in

Belgracie and Canberra

will-

be

opened

wit-ri-our information

off.ices. rf this

new

situation

were temporary, the

consequences worrld

not

be

very

serious.

But

if

ttre

pattern

is

repeaiei

in

1982,

given the

proposals

to

open

delegations

withotit

inforrnation

offices in

New

Delhi

and

Brazilia,

there

wil.l

have been

a

de

facto

:::.'tartge

in

policy.

3

l.

The Commission shorrld

therefore

confirm

its

decentrali zatlau

policy

setting

up sone

further

suboffices

and

provide irrformarion

ofiices

in its

delegations

in

i{ember

States

and

in

non-nember

countries.

The

Commission should

then

take the

appropriate

steps

to

carry

through i-r-s

decisions

in

practice.

32.

Buclget.

In

recent years

the

Conmission, supported

by the

appro*

priate

Parliamentary committeeo has sought

substa.ntial increases in

appropriations

for

information

work.

For lgEl

however

the

budget;,,ry

authorities

encered

a

figure of

8

million

ECU

for

posr

27zo; rhis

is

lower

in real

tet:ms

than

the

sum

entered

the

previous

year.

Other

information appropriations

have been

either

cu.t back

or

held

at their

l98O leve1.

Re corunenda t i ons

33.

It is

proposed

that

the

Commission :

-

approve

the guidelines

set

but

in this

paper

;

-

adopt

_{the principle of the}

_use

_of

_an

_informarion

_sheel

"

::':

:

;;f

, i

ln'l,'n

XIl"

3;"ilo,i

:n'f;'i.,;:.n::::;::.

_i.

_::;:

l

.''.

concerning

its

application

and

to

inf,orm

the

ser"rji.ces

of

these;

approve

_{the provisional}

_breakdown

_of

_app::opriafj

_*ris

_in

_rhe

outline

budget*progrdnnre (Annex

_iI)

_;

*

_{f oiward}

_fhis

_psper,